Blast-Induced Tinnitus and Spontaneous Firing Changes in the Rat Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus

Exposure to high-pressure blast shock waves is known to cause tinnitus. Although the underlying mechanisms may involve damage to structures in the ear and/or direct brain impact, which triggers a cascade of neuroplastic changes in both auditory and nonauditory centers, it remains unclear how the induced neuroplasticity manifests neurophysiologically. This study investigates the influence of blast exposure on spontaneous firing rates (SFRs) in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) and its time course in rats with blast-induced tinnitus. Each rat was exposed to a single blast at 22 psi. Behavioral evidence of tinnitus was measured by using a gap-detection acoustic startle-reflex paradigm. SFRs were measured 1 day, 1 month, and 3 months after blast exposure. The results showed that nine rats with blast-induced tinnitus and hearing loss developed hyperactivity immediately and that the induced hyperactivity persisted in six rats with tinnitus at 1 month after blast exposure. At 3 months after blast exposure, however, the induced hyperactivity of four rats with tinnitus transitioned to hypoactivity. In addition, the 20-30-kHz, and >30-kHz regions in the DCN of rats with and without blast-induced tinnitus were more affected than other frequency regions at different recovery time points after blast exposure. These results demonstrate that the neural mechanisms underlying blast-induced tinnitus are substantially different from those underlying noise-induced tinnitus.